Inspire Me
by Cupid's Bride
Summary: Tink, why can't you give me a ride?
1. After The Credits Rolled

Disclaimer: I don't own School of Rock. That liberty goes to Mike White. I'm just enjoying his characters more.

Note - OK, so I lied to Kelsey. I posted it. I shouldn't deprive other SoR lovers because of one person. Hope you guys enjoy my first ever SoR fanfic.

Summary: Picks up right after the credits rolled.

Inspire Me

"See you, man," Zack called out as he rushed out the door of Dewey and Ned's new apartment and music workshop after practice.

"Hey Zack, wait up," Summer called out, running after him. "I've gotta talk to you."

Marta giggled, "Think she's about to confess that she's got a crush on him?"

"No, no, no I think she's going to tell him off about how he was a little sharp at one of the guitar chords during the chorus," Alicia said, softly. 

"It's a pity that she's got perfect pitch, but she's horribly off-key when she sings," Tomika added in the same low tone. "Oh, and Marta? She doesn't like Zack."

"WHAT?" Alicia and Marta exclaimed, as they rolled up the microphone wires. "WHO?"

"I don't know who exactly, but it's someone in the band. It could be a roadie or security, or Freddy..."

Alicia gasped and whispered, "That's not good."

While the singers continued to gossip as they packed and cleaned up their mics, Katie paced her packing as slowly as she dared and kept an eye out for Freddy who raided the fridge for something to drink. She just shut the final two clasps of her bass cover when her cell phone rang.

She checked the caller ID then reluctantly answered it. "Mom?"

Dewey got up from his position on the floor and walked over to Freddy who decided on drinking orange juice straight from its carton. "Gimme some."

The drummer took one last gulp and handed it to him. "I think I need some more practice, do you mind if I stay here?" He asked his mentor before the guy could take a swig.

"Of course, Spazzy, knock yourself out."

Freddy moved briskly toward his drum kit and situated himself.

Pouting from the conversation on her cell, Katie hung up. "I'm off, my brother's picking me up. You don't need a ride, Freddy?" She put on her coat, donned her bonnet and gloves, and wrapped a scarf around her neck.

Katie and Freddy were next door neighbors. Sometimes Katie would need a ride home and Freddy will provide, and vice versa. This let a close friendship develop between the two especially since Dewey managed to knock some sense into Freddy "Bad Boy" Jones. But she harbored a secret crush for her friend, one that he doesn't seem to reciprocate.

"I'll just hitch a ride with Summer," The blond told the bassist as he grasped his drum sticks. "Thanks though, Katie. I'll catch you later."

Katie, disappointed that he didn't seem to make more conversation with her, quickly ran out of there and almost collided with Summer in the hallway.

"Oh sorry, Tink." Katie told her after she steadied herself from the near impact.

"It's alright. I saw your brother, he's waiting outside," The straight-laced manager told her friend with a bright smile on her face, cheeks flushed from the cold.

"OK, thanks. Oh Freddy's staying."

"Again?" Katie shrugged in reply then went out the door that led to the streets before Summer could say another word.

Sher went inside the apartment and marched right up to Freddy, despite his loud drumming. "FREDDY JONES!"

He stopped mid-strike, "What's up, Tinkerbell?" He lowered the sticks and took a drink out of the water bottle Dewey had set down after he launched his drumming warm ups.

"I am not giving you a ride home today, I can't."

"Why not?"

"I just can't. I am calling Katie right now to tell her to stay put or come back here because I can't give you a ride."

"But I need to practice, Tink."

"Nossir, sorry, sir! Not today, i can't give you a ride."

"Do you have a doctor's appointment or something? I don't see what the problem with that is. You just brought me to it last time."

"No." Summer finally found Katie's new cell number on her cell. She has gotta get a better phone model than what she was using right now. It's a pain.

"A business meeting that regards the band? You let me tag along to one of those the last time I needed practice."

Katie's phone rang once when Summer's phone died.

That argument with Mr. Green the Low Balling Scumbag had taken a lot of her time, cellphone minutes and discharged her cell's battery power.

So she made the face. 


	2. Just Groceries?

Disclaimer - See Chapter One

Note - Glad you guys don't know where I am going with this. One word: patience. :)

* * *

Inspire Me 

Chapter Two- Just Groceries?

* * *

Remember the face Summer had when she found out what 'groupie' meant and confronted Dewey? Well, just the sight of it made Freddy want to turn on his tail. 

He didn't want to be the recipient of that look. No sir, nuh uh. BUT, he really needed and wanted to practice. How else would he get new drumming techniques?

So he stood his ground and pleaded with the tiny brunette. "Please, Summer? I'll even give you your birthday present early if you asked! And another one on your birthday so you can't complain about the propriety of giving you your birthday present early!"

She looked more troubled.

Neither of the two were aware of their audience. Marta, Tomika and Alicia finished storing the mic and the cables in the equipment closet and quietly spied on the two. They looked at each other and all whispered, "No way!"

"No, Summer couldn't possibly be crushing on my cousin." Marta hissed at Tomika.

"Why not, Blondie?" Alicia whispered. "They have the whole badass harbors feelings for the goody-two-shoes thing going on."

"Besides, haven't you noticed how Summer and he are close to each other and the way she's so understanding of his behavior?" Tomika added.

The trio hushed up when they heard Dewey coming from the other room with Lawrence and Ned. They watched El Capitano spot Summer and slap his head.

At the sound of his slap, the little girl turned on him with The Face. "Mr. S!"

Dewey braced himself before braving **that face** once more. The times he had **that face** turned on onto him never meant well, unless he can do some quick thinking and avoid upsetting her more. But this time, he did something wrong. He had forgotten about what day it was.

"Okay, Summer. I'll have Ned drive Freddy home-"

But the real Mr. Schneebly interrupted him, "Dude, no can do! Car is in the shop, remember?"

Dewey and Summer conducted a staring contest. Lawrence looked on in confusion.

Then Marta's phone started beeping. She opened it and saw a text message from her dad. "Hey Fredmeister, Dad's not going to be picking me up for another twenty minutes. If you want, you can practice till then and catch a ride with me."

"I would, but don't you remember, Martster? You guys have dinner reservation? Uncle said to remind you about that."

Marta groaned. "I wish you didn't." She grabbed her backpack from the floor and went to the bathroom with Tomika and Alicia in tow. Only Ned, Lawrence, Dewey, Summer and Freddy were left in the room.

"Tink, why can't you give me a ride?" Freddy asked, crossing his arms as he surveyed one of his best friends. "I know you don't have any weekly appointment on Tuesdays. You didn't have a problem with giving me a ride last week. Did I do something wrong?"

Summer looked at Dewey with pleading eyes.

Ned spoke up at this point, "Summer, why can't you just tell the band? I'm sure they would be okay with it. I mean, you're working really hard. And you've been doing really great in your past sessions. It'll be cool if they knew what you've been up to, you know."

"Yeah, Tinkerbell." Dewey piped in, glad someone could help bail him out of the awkward place he was in. Then added in a low voice before she could say anything, "Or if you really don't want everyone to know, a select few would do. Like Freddy and Lawrence for instance."

The Face went away, and she seemed to mull over their propositions. Then she sighed and said, "Ok, let's go."

* * *

Meanwhile in the bathroom, the backup singers were discussing the pros and cons of having couples within a band while Marta finished dressing up for dinner. 

"Pro - you guys have the same schedule." Tomika said as she watched Marta let down her hair from her ponytail and brush it.

"Con - you guys don't get privacy." Marta countered as she sat on the bathroom floor in front of Alicia who sat on the tub.

"Pro - the thrill of sneaking around." Alicia took Marta's proffered hair ties and started braiding her hair.

T - "Pro - you guys understand the work load, and know each others' routines."

M - "Pro - you guys are close with one another."

A - "Pro - you guys love music."

T - "Pro - you guys get to be together most of the time."

M - "Pro - you've known each other for a while."

A - "Con - if you guys fight, ill feelings toward one another may affect your performance as part of the band."

"I think we should give them the benefit of the doubt about that." Tomika said as she helped Marta pack up her belongings. "I mean, we're already practicing how to be professional right now. Whatever happens outside of the band, barring death of family, sickness and the like, it shouldn't affect our performance. So if that happens we have to put it aside come practice or show time."

Reluctantly, Alicia and Marta agreed and went out of the bathroom, finding the room empty. "Where did they go?"

They looked around and found a note in Dewey's scrawly print. '_Went to Costco. Lock up when you're done._'

Tomika shrugged, "No wonder Summer was flipping. She doesn't want Freddy to know that she's been the one in charge of grocery shopping and forgot to get him some Reese's last time."

* * *

"So..." Freddy said as he pushed the shopping cart around Costco, and grabbed a box each of Reese's Cups, Crunchy M&M's and Orbit whitening gum in spearmint. Dewey and Ned were checking out an electric guitar and an electronic piano that were on sale. "Since Dewey proclaimed you a groupie, you started taking vocal lessons?"

"Yeah," Summer told him as she grabbed some Swedish Fish, Crunch, and Lawrence grabbed some Hershey's Almonds Bar, Babyruth and Three Musketeers. "I mean, I figured I wasn't good at singing - but I never thought I was horrible at it. I'm not deaf. I can hear Tomika, Alicia and Marta poke fun at me when they think nobody's listening to them gossip." She and Larry dumped the items in the cart. "It was kind of embarrassing."

Lawrence looked at Summer. "Eleanor Roosevelt once said, _Do what you feel in your heart to be right - for you'll be criticized anyway. You'll be damned if you do, and damned if you don't_. Back then, you thought you sang well. Now you're just trying to make that thought right. Who cares what everyone else says. I think you're doing the right thing by taking vocal lessons. By learning, you are progressing. My piano teacher told me that."

"Thanks, Larry." She smiled at him then she turned to look at Freddy who started beating the cart handle with his drumsticks. "You don't seem surprised, Freddy. Why is that?"

"Well, for one thing, you have perfect pitch. You play the clarinet, flute, trumpet, trombone and French horn excellently, always in tune."

"And the other thing?"

"Errr... your mom had invited the band for lunch a couple of weeks back, right? I snuck in your room on a dare to find your diary - not that I didn't have to snoop much. It was quite easy. By the way, we love you the way you are - even if you are a teacher's pet which you're not even much of nowadays." Summer looked ready to smack him when he held up his hands, "Wait-wait! I only had to know what you wrote about in the last entry you wrote. So chill, I didn't read the whole thing. ANYWAY, I found a bunch of books like _Solos From Musicals For Kids_ and _Daffodils, Violets and Snowflakes_, which I hate to break it to you, Tink, are both sucky names."

"Ha ha, you're a hoot, **_Alfred Ethan_** Jones."

"Hmm, Alfred?" Dewey asked as he and Ned came up to them with some first aid material like Advil, Tylenol for kids, Bengay and Band-Aid. "Never would have thought your first name's Alfred . I expected Frederick."

Freddy groaned and shot Summer a look. He knew it was a bad idea to tell her about finding her diary. What she didn't know is he climbed the tree into her house to read more of it.

She merely smiled back. "I think that serves you right for pilfering for my diary in my room without my permission."

Ned looked at his watch. They needed to be at Summer's vocal lesson in a half hour so he interrupted Freddy and said, "Okay we still need to get some Cup-A-Noodles, sliced mushrooms in the can, corn in the can, milk, Nestea, Nathan's Hot Dogs, Lean Pockets, Steak EEZE, Gatorade, water, Charmin', Bounce, coffee, sugar, cream, Campari tomatoes and batteries. Lawrence, can you get the noodles? Dewey, can you get the canned produce? Freddy go get the Lean Pockets, a box of Steak EEZE and the hot dogs. Summer could you get the batteries, you know which ones we need the best. I'll head off with the cart for the Gatorade and the water. We'll meet at the back where the drinks are and stuff."

They headed off in separate directions but before Freddy rushed to his, he brushed by Summer and said in a low voice, "You were lucky, Summer **_Autumn_** Hathaway. But don't worry, I won't blab out your middle name." Then he ran away before she could retort.

* * *

They all met up by the toilet paper and paper towel section. Each dumped their loot in the cart. 

Ned listed off, "Larry and noodles?"

"Check."

"Dewey, corn and mushroom?"

"Double check. And I got the sugar, Nescafe and Coffeemate too."

"Freddy, NHD, Steak, and LP?"

"Check, check and check."

"Summer and batteries?"

"AA check, AAA check, 9V8 check, and D cell batteries check."

"Okay, let's go get the milk, Campari tomatoes and some sushi and get out of here."

* * *

Summer and Freddy glared at each other silently when they finished loading the van. She couldn't believe he knew her middle name because he read her diary. He couldn't believe she would abuse her role as Class Factotem! Calling him by his awful first name. 

Lawrence looked on at the scene silently as he tried not to laugh at the two then he glanced at Ned who sat in the front passenger seat who seemed to be doing the same he is.

"Alright," Dewey roared in his usual boisterous voice. "Let's get rocking!" He started the car and the radio DJ just announced that he would be playing Foo Fighter's _Best of You_ in a second. The tension in the back of the car dissipated and Freddy started tapping to the rhythm his ankle while Summer and Lawrence bobbed their heads to the tune.

_I've got another confession to make_

_I'm your fool_

_Everyone's got their chains to break_

_Holdin' you_

_Were you born to resist or be abused?_

"Hey Tink." Freddy said, catching her attention. "Why don't you sing with this song?"

She blushed. "Uhmmm, well..." She trailed off, wanting to prove she could sing, but not having the courage to. A hand touched her shoulder and she turned to Lawrence's kind face.

"If you're not ready to sing to us yet, we won't push you." He told her as he sent a meaning look to Freddy.

Who ignored it and carried on, "If it helps, I'll sing with you." He belted out the first line of the chorus horribly and Summer laughed at him. "See? Nothing to it. You're still learning, right? There's room for mistakes at the beginning. You're supposed to make them so you can become better." He looked at her pointedly as the song ended its chorus. "Come on, Pixie, sing. You know you-"

A booming, soulful voice interrupted him as her eyes twinkled with happiness. "_Are you gone and onto someone new?_"

Freddy's jaw dropped. "Wow." Then he grinned at her to continue as he started air drumming.

So Summer sang, bursting with confidence her friend gave her.

"_I needed somewhere to hang my head _

_Without your noose _

_You gave me something that I didn't have _

_But had no use _

_I was too weak to give in _

_Too strong to lose _

_My heart is under arrest again _

_But I break loose _

_My head is giving me life or death _

_But I can't choose _

_I swear I'll never give in _

_I refuse_"

Ned and Dewey gave each other knowing glances and did their most discreet secret handshake.

As _Best of You_ faded and another song came on, Freddy whooped and held his hand up for a high five. "Way to go, Tink."

Summer blushed as Lawrence also clapped politely for her. "Thanks."

"You can sing! You _can really_ sing!" Freddy blabbed, grinning like a madman and his fluffy hair looking like a massive cotton ball on his head that can make you wonder if he's a relative of Bozo the Clown. "You know what this means right, Larry?"

"What?" The pianist asked.

"The singers have some competition," Ned piped in from his seat in the front as they turned into a driveway of a shopping complex with a dance studio, a physician's clinic, and a Duane Reade.

"YEA! Competish! WHOOOO!" Spazzy McGee raised his arms in all out victory pose. "Ok, I'm done now."

Dewey parked the car and asked everybody to get out. "Okay. I know this is a dance studio." He gestured to the spot in front of where he parked. "Spazzy, shut up before you hurt yourself. As you know, there's a saying." He held up his index fingers like he did when he was "teaching" them. "It's _don't judge a book by its cover_. But, you … and you better keep it zipped anyway. Ai is already mad enough at me for disrupting one of her dance classes to make a show out of begging her to take pity on this poor unfortunate soul." He sniffed at the end, drawing Summer into his arms who immediately hugged him and got away. "Alright, let's go."

In a double file, they went into the establishment called Menzel Dance Institution.

* * *

**Reviews **

Okay… sorry for not updating quickly enough. I hope you guys liked it.

**i am not a chipmunk** – my first SoR reviewer:) Give yourself a pat on the back. I would do it, but I can't. Uhmm… well, just think about it this way. You know how the credits rolled at the end of the movie? Well, this is my continuation right after it - as if it never wrapped up.

**Kelsey** – you keep changing your username, so I'll stick with Kels or Kelsey. Ok, enough F/S interaction here for you? You understand why it seemed like F/K earlier? LoL. I hope so. Oh, come on. I don't write pregnant teen fics! It's too depressing. I like happy fics, I'm sick of being depressed by life. Anyway, I hope I cleared that up in this chapter. YAY! I'm your first flamer. I hope I won't need to do it often. LoL.

**Singingblondie** – did this chapter answer your question? Katie has a crush on Freddy. But... I am a Freddy/Summer shipper. I'll tell you that much.


	3. Loving That Man of Mine

Disclaimer: See Chapter One.

Author's Note – Sorry it's been so long! Real life got in the way!

Inspire Me

Chapter Three – Loving That Man of Mine

"Took you long enough to bring her here, Finn! You know Fran's on the prowl!" A bubbly raven-haired young woman greeted as Dewey, Ned and Summer walked in the studio.

"Ssorry, sorry. Some things came up."

"Yeah, yeah. Some thing ALWAYS comes up."

"It really wasn't my fault this time!"

"Sure, sure… eh-ni-way… Summer, ready for this week's lesson? I had a few pieces of red Pixie Stix today, so you better watch out." She shot a glance at the two people following her. "Oh, and just who are these guys with you?"

"I'll be ready with whatever you dish out today, Elle." She replied then put on an angelic smile that made everybody wary and keep all silent. "The black haired one is Lawrence and the one with that looks like a dumb hedgehog is Freddy." She continued on, ignoring his sputters of denial at the insult, "They're in _School of Rock_."

Freddy blurted out before he even thought about it. "Funny you're likening me to a dumb hedgehog. Is that a good way to talk about your boyfriend?"

Summer whirled around to face him. "You are _not_ my boyfriend, Alfred."

He placed his hands on her shoulders and leaned in. "Mare, can we talk about our problems and work out our relationship after your lesson? I really don't want to lose you over some things we say in the heat of the moment and don't mean." He said it loudly enough and with such earnest he could that if she was on the outside looking in, _she'd_ think he was telling the truth.

As she wasn't, though, she felt her blood boil, and her face turn red. Thinking that she walked right into that one, she sputtered, "You, you… I… uhh, err… grrr! We have no relationship to work out! And Mare?"

"You know you love me calling you by that nickname." He gave her a meaningful glance that said he could have revealed her middle name by then. Then being Freddy, he took advantage of the close proximity and gave her a small peck on the cheek. He pulled away, smiled bashfully and said, "The lady doth protest too much."

She didn't know why she didn't hit him for sounding so smug and taking liberties. "Keep it up. See if I ever tutor you in English ever again, Jones."

His eyes twinkled. "But you like me too much to stop our afternoon and weekend rendezvous with Shakespeare!"

She glared. "You have that all wrong - I hate you."

"You know what they say about love and hate…"

Before Freddy could finish that sentence, Dewey couldn't keep quiet anymore. "Okay, you two. Enough already! You argue like a married couple! I say break it up, and work it out la-terrrrrr."

Lawrence mumbled something along the lines of, "preferably out of our sight and hearing." Ned just shook his head, extremely laid back about the whole thing. Elle's eyes twinkled.

Summer noticed and turned a deeper shade of red, while Freddy just smiled. "Of course! Won't we, Pumpkin?"

She swore at someone she considered her friend for the first time in her life. "Bite me, jackass." She left them with that parting note and walked into the practice room where she knew her coach will follow her.

He simply smiled. "She loves me, I know she does."

Lawrence shook his head this time as the adults all sighed. Their thoughts, however, were at different wavelengths.

Elle spoke up, "Well that was interesting. If you guys follow me to my classroom silently, you may observe her lesson." They quietly followed the vocal teacher from the front of the building to where Summer went. The instructor gave all boys a look to be quiet, and stay quiet.

"Okay, first we warm up." Elle announced as she walked into the chamber and made her way to the piano. The boys filed in after her and silently took places as far from the teaching area as possible. "Sound the siren with 'mm' please."

Mimicking a siren, Summer took a deep breath and started to hum from her lowest note to her highest then brought it back down.

"Great! Now, with 'oo'."

She repeated the exercise with her lips pursed.

"And 'ah.' We'll move in with shoulder rolls, neck rolls, and jogging in place straight after that, okay?" Her response was a full blown siren. "Wow wow wee! That's awesome! Alright, repeat after me…"

Summer kept on with the warm ups, including some calisthenics with the upper body, until Freddy thought the exercises would never end. He didn't know that vocal lessons had a good amount of warm-ups preceding the singing aspect. He did notice that Summer had better control than Marta, and she possessed a pretty good range of low notes.

_She's an alto,_ Freddy thought with much surprise. _She's been trying to sing high notes, and be like the singers in the band – but she's an alto!_

Elle clapped her hands after they finished the last exercise. "I think you can now do warm ups on your own, and I trust that you'll do it every time you wake up. For next week, I will only lead you through an arpeggio and the _solfege_, alright? Remember to always keep your stomach tight."

"Yes, coach."

"Glad to hear it. I noticed many positive improvements since the first session a month and a half ago…"

At this Lawrence and Freddy exchanged glances. _That was after they just got into the contest! _They looked at Dewey then back at each other. _Figures._ Nodding at each other, they paid attention to what Elle was saying.

"… so I will start you off with a vocally jazz piece today, and if we have time; I'll work on a song of your choice with you. Don't get mad, I didn't know your boyfriend was going to be here today, otherwise I wouldn't have picked it."

Summer ignored the boyfriend comment. She's been friends with Elle by now and knew that the older girl didn't really think that Freddy was her boyfriend. She'll throw around weird teasing comments anyway, showing she's really younger than one would expect. Besides, she'd get to return the favor later. "Well, let's hear it, then."

"Here's the music. Okay, I'll play it the way I usually sing it. Join me whenever you feel comfy." She started off with a smooth introduction of a medium-paced and slightly low, love song. With a strong alto voice, she began the verse;

_Fish gotta swim, birds gotta fly._

_I gotta love one man till I die_

_So I can't help, lovin' that man of mine._

Summer smiled. The song was pretty easy and fun. She sang along with the second verse perfectly. She messed up the refrain, but marked an eyeglass where she needed to watch out for it the second time around. Then they finished off with a repeat of the first verse, which Summer nailed perfectly.

"Very nice, Sum. I want you to now go through the song twice more without me, and then we'll record afterward. We'll make this one of your recital songs."

Summer was a bit nervous when she sang by herself the first time. Although she did her best not to show it, Elle picked up on it anyway.

"Okay, girlfriend. I'll tell you something my aunt told me. It's what makes me a good vocalist and coach; or so people tell me. But first, what do you get from the song?"

She frowned, "What do you mean?"

"Singing songs is like reading a book out loud. You get a feeling from the book and you're trying to convey that message to the ones who are listening to you read aloud. It's like you're trying to give people visuals. Like you're painting a picture what the author is trying to tell. Get me so far?"

Summer nodded. "Yes. It's like when you're reading a novel on your own, and you can envision what exactly going on even without the pictures."

Elle's eyes sparkled with pride. "Exactly. Good girl! It's the same with a song. Any one song with lyrics has a meaning that its writer is trying to express. Even those music artists who don't write songs themselves. It's not just the beat, or the fancy tune." Elle recited, "_Tell me he's lazy; tell me he's slow. Tell me I'm crazy (maybe I know). But I can't help lovin' that man of mine._"

The teacher saw that her student was in deep thought. She could tell that the concept of the song was slightly too advanced for a soon-to-be sixth grader. Maybe she was wrong to do so, but Elle thought Summer was like her at fifth grade; too mature for her age. The girl was very bright and had an old soul; the little girl acted as if she was twenty-five, not ten.

She even surmised that if Hogwarts existed, she'd give Hermione Granger a run for her brains; and the Weasley Twins for their underhanded dealings.

Elle smiled when Summer raised her eyes to meet hers. She got it. She actually got it!

The fifth grader shocked her, "It's somewhat of an ode. It's definitely a love song."

"You're really too smart. I barely know what an ode is. No, no… no need to tell me; I'll look it up later when I study for English Lit. But yes, it's a love song. Care to try it again before we record?"

"Let's record it, now."

"You're that confident, huh?" Smiling, Elle hit a switch button that lit up a sign that said, 'On Air'. "Far be it for me to stop you, Genius. Okay, let me close the door and put on the 'Do Not Disturb' sign."

Summer closed her eyes and pictured that one man, her soul mate as she took the mic. She thought of a Prince Charming in his rumpled uniform, with messy hair and hazel eyes. Although it shocked her that she'd picture Freddy out of all possible candidates in _School of Rock_ or at school_, _she supposed that she could have done worse.

_Besides_, she thought as she sang her heart out. _It wasn't as if we're ready for something like love_.

Freddy silently tapped to the rhythm of the song with closed eyes, totally taken away by the jazz beat and Summer's voice. Who knew she had it in her?

She finished with slight _rubato_ and met Elle's eyes, which shone with much pride.

"Well, Miss Hathaway," she said after she turned off the recorder switch. "I believe that you've got that one in the bag. Which song would you like to work on next?"

Before they could start someone started clapping. Both vocalists turned to the doorway where a really tall guy with buzzed hair smiled sheepishly. He had to duck his head a little to enter the room. He was _really_ tall. (Six feet and eight inches, actually.)

Summer inwardly grinned. Seems like she'd get her revenge on Elle sooner than she thought.

"Sorry," he shrugged as he made his way over to them. "I was walking down the hall and heard some wonderful music coming from this room and had to look in."

"It's ok." She said, slightly blushing at the compliment.

Elle shot her a look before she turned to the guy still advancing to where they were. "Class is in session, Alex. You know you can't do that during the middle. You either observe from the beginning or not at all."

He smirked and leaned against the piano. "Oh come on. Give me a break. If you didn't really allow people to come in here, you'd have locked the door."

Completely ignoring his last statement – it was somewhat true, she exclaimed, "I ought to fine you five hundred dollars for leaning on my Steinway, you obnoxious cur!"

Eyes bugging out he asked, "Obnoxious cur? What happened to egotistical pri-" He didn't remove himself from his position.

"My mistake, you are far more severe than egotistical. _Get off_ my Steinway, Pennington!"

Dewey made an offhand comment to the boys as they watched the exchange. "Does this sound familiar to you?"

Alex smirked. "Oh yeah? What would you do about it if I don't?"

With a jerk Summer was ready for, Elle pulled the piano (it was, after all, mounted on wheels) and the guy fell on the floor, his head narrowly missing the percussion's base.

Ned nodded to Dewey. "Looks like how Summer and Freddy act."

Lawrence groaned.

Freddy protested. "Hey! I would never fall flat on my ass like that!"

Smiling wryly, the guy stood up and brushed himself off. "Guess you could do that."

"Good observation, Sherlock."

Turning away from the temperamental lady, he faced Summer. "I must say, you've gone a long way from when you started!"

Smiling sweetly, she said, "Thanks. Elle's been really cool through all this. I think she deserves a reward."

"She puts up with Aunt Fran, and she's turning you into quite the singer. Of course she does."

"You forget that 'she' is still here, and I also put up with you when you're around; God knows why!"

Slyly, Summer replied, "I know you do not dislike your protégé so you couldn't be talking about me – however, I also know that on days like this, you spray – ."

"You don't want to finish that sentence!" Elle exclaimed, blushing while Alex whipped his head to look at her.

"And why not?"

"None of your business!"

"I disagree."

"You could disagree all you want, but it doesn't mean that it's true."

Ned tapped Dewey. "I see what you mean, dude. It's like watching Summer and Freddy."

The blond shot him a disgusted look, "I really resent that, Schneebly. There's no way I am remotely similar to that dude who gets his ass kicked by the girl."

Lawrence snickered at Freddy possibly for the first time in his life. "I seem to recall that she kicked your ass at the beginning of the year."

Suddenly defensive he replied, "No, no – I was letting her win!"

"Right."

Dewey chose to interject at that point with, "Do I even wanna know?"

"Before they assigned us a substitute in September, during recess Freddy and Frankie were arm wrestling with each other one day."

"You really don't wanna do this, Larry."

Ignoring the blond hedgehog, he continued, "The score was pretty close, Freddy beat Frankie fifteen to twelve. Soon enough a cue had formed for a tournament; Freddy in first, Frankie second, Marco surprisingly came in third. Then Summer, ever the lovable feminist she is, wanted to join."

As Lawrence uncharacteristically and cheerfully told the story, Freddy tried to come up with dirt on his band mate. Anything at all to keep him from finishing the story. He slapped his forehead, not really believing the theory that you lose brain cells for every blow to the head. He even tried to think hard. Contrary to popular belief, Freddie _did_ think – it just gave him headaches and stress.

Like now.

"Frankie is not the type to put girls down, his older sis kind of beat chauvinism out of him. So while everybody, from Billy (who came in last) to Gordon (who came in fourth, narrowly beating Zack who was sick that day) protested; Frankie was all game. I promise you, Summer and Frankie duked it out for five minutes straight. At first, it seemed like Frankie had it in the bag but Summer, held on to that last inch for dear life and just started over powering him. Then the closer they got to five minutes, the weaker Frankie became and she actually beat him."

Dewey eyed the band manager with a newfound respect. "Wow. Who knew she had it in her?"

Freddie muttered, "Frankie let her win."

The pianist shook his head, "No he didn't, and you know it. Summer earned that win fair and square."

He muttered some more.

"Anyway, so by the rules of the tournament – her win bumped Frankie down to the number three spot, Gordon fourth, Zack fifth-"

Dewey cut him off, "Yeah yeah, she took number two, right?"

"Yes. And she remained in second place until she challenged Freddy and he lost."

Freddy threw his hands up and started to truly protest, "She had nails and she used them! It was foul – foul, foul!"

The piano made an awful noise and all heads swiveled to the flushed vocal coach behind the piano. "Class dismissed!"


End file.
